1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charged particle beam exposure apparatus, and particularly, to a charged particle beam exposure apparatus which is suitable for application to the manufacture of LSI's.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are two cases for the structure of a charged particle beam exposure apparatus, that is the case of integrating a main body of the apparatus (including a charged particle generator section and a sample carrier section) and a control unit for controlling these units, and the case of separating the main body of the apparatus from the control unit. In the case of separating these units, it is typical that the apparatus main body is separated from the control unit. In this case, it is necessary to have an analog signal cable wired from the control unit to the apparatus main body, with a maximum limit of about 10 m for the wiring distance between the two units. Further, in the case of integrating the apparatus main body and the control unit, an area for the installation of the apparatus is unnecessarily increased.
In order to minimize the necessary floor area within a clean room at the side of the user of the apparatus, it is desirable that only a portion requiring stable cleanliness, temperature and humidity the installed within the clean room. From this viewpoint, in the case of structuring the charged particle beam exposure apparatus by integrating the main body of the apparatus and the control unit, there is a problem that the floor area required for the installation of the apparatus within the clean room is unnecessarily increased. Further, in the case of separating the main body of the apparatus from the control unit to structure the charged particle beam exposure apparatus, there is a problem that the layout of the apparatus is constrained by the wiring of an analog signal cable.
As described above, there is a problem that constraints in the floor area and in the layout of the apparatus are imposed on the user of the apparatus, because no consideration has been given either to reduce the floor area for the installation of the apparatus in the clean room or to guarantee the layout of the apparatus with a high degree of freedom to match the idea of the configuration of the manufacturing line at the side of the user of the apparatus.